Southgate's tough choice

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Head Start

Start or bench? Foden, Saka, Palmer…

Southgate will have the same feeling that we’ve all gone through when walking past the milk aisle…

… semi-skimmed? Oat? Almond? Cashew?…

… ugh, it’s a tough choice. Arguably a tougher choice is picking which world-class midfielder should be benched between… Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer.

We’re here to help.

First, let’s look at their stats for club in all competitions in the 2023/24 season…

… all three have had incredible seasons. And Cole Palmer arguably had the best season with 40 goal contributions - closely followed by Foden (39) and then Saka (34).

(Of course, depending on what side of the penalty fence you sit on, Palmer has had the most penalties). 

And, for all three, these goals and assists weren’t in vain. Cole Palmer’s contributions won the most points for his club (26) in the league, Foden sits fifth with 19 points won and Saka is eighth with 17 points won. 

Palmer also shines when it comes to versatility of position…

… as even for Chelsea he has played regularly in both Foden and Saka’s preferred positions. And he’s already played in both positions in England’s lead-up friendlies.

It’s a hard decision. But, with Saka’s muscle injury and Palmer’s form, the case for starting the Chelsea man has never been stronger.

If this decision wasn’t keeping Southgate up at night, then Trent, Mainoo, Gordon, Watkins, Bowen or Gordon might. 

Plus…

Aston Villa owner says he could take legal action against the Premier League over spending rules (More)

The Premier League has spent £30 million last season on legal fees fighting its own clubs (More)

The EFL boasts the highest-attended league body in Europe, with 23.7 million supporters through the turnstiles (More) 

The pre-season fixtures for Premier League clubs have been announced (More)

Stats Summary

Belgium

→ Romelu Lukaku heads into the tournament as the top-scoring player in Euro 2024 qualifying. The Roma striker scored 13 goals in Serie A, his fourth year of registering 10+ strikes in as many Serie A seasons.

→ Kevin De Bruyne’s last goal involvement at a major tournament was an assist against Finland in the group stage of Euro 2020, with his current run of five Euros/World Cup games without contributing to a goal, his longest ever.

Serbia

→ Serbia have scored in each of their last 10 competitive games, and have only failed to do so twice in their 25 games under Stojkovic.

→ In the Euro 2024 qualifiers, Serbia were one of only six countries to score in every game, alongside France, Belgium, Austria, Portugal and England.

Scottish Premiership

Retaining Scottish talent is key… and banning English scouts has begun

On Friday, Scotland open the Euros 2024 against hosts Germany. After a 23-year wait, the Scottish national team has qualified for two major tournaments, consecutively.

Domestically speaking, however, Scottish football has a problem: retaining home-grown talent.

Since January 2021, there have already been 30 players under the age of 18 that English teams have swept up from the Scots.

Why? 

Well, The Athletic argues that Brexit has shrunk the pool of talent that English clubs relied on as they’re no longer allowed to sign any player under the age of 18 from abroad.

So… English clubs have now firmly set their eyes on Scottish talent. 

To retain talent, agents are urging Scottish sides to make the path to first-team football clearer for their players…

… because, currently, clubs aren’t. In fact, CIES data shows that the Scottish Premiership gives the fourth-lowest percentage of first-team minutes to club-trained players. 

And only five Scottish academy players under the age of 21 played more than 1,000 minutes in the Premiership last season.

How are Scottish clubs reacting to the exodus?

The only way a club can in the short-term. Some clubs have already banned English scouts and agents from attending matches at under-14 levels or below to make it difficult to track top talent. 

While this might be a short-term solution, the problem is… parents are sending English clubs videos of their sons in hope for a move.

Route One take: For Scottish football to get back to its heyday, they must work on creating a quick path to first-team football for home-grown talent. Only then will they see the success they’ve seen at the international level.

Off The Pitch

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Around The Football World

🇺🇸 Fans from the United States are leading the ticket sales for the European Championship, purchasing 27% of all tickets (More)

🇳🇱 Frenkie de Jong has been ruled out of the European Championships due to injury, with The Netherlands’ coach Ronald Koeman criticising Barcelona for taking a “risk” on the midfielder (More)

🇩🇪 Bayern Munich are actively looking to sell defender Matthijs de Ligt and are keen to replace him with Bayer Leverkusen’s Jonathan Tah (More) 

🇪🇸 Fernando Torres is the new head coach of Atletico Madrid B (More)

🇸🇦 Al Ittihad will pay Marcelo Gallardo a record $30 million settlement to sack him (More)

Photo of the Day

Today’s Photo of the Day is a little different. In yesterday’s edition, we covered the changing pattern of football broadcasts.

A reader reached out to us to give more insights on how football broadcasts have changed…

… take it away David G S:

“Talking of football on TV I'm young enough at 73 to remember when Match of the Day just showed one match a week from any of the 4 divisions and the only live matches were the FA Cup final and any England match and the league cup as it was then was only shown as highlights the following day on ITV.

And the Match of the Day theme was "Drum Majorette" and no expert opinion just a few comments at the end from Kenneth Wolstenholme.”

The photo is Kenneth Wolstenholme presenting the first ever Match of the Day on 22 August 1964. The identity of the match – Liverpool v Arsenal - was kept secret until 4.00 PM, by agreement with the Football League, who feared crowds would stay at home to watch it. The match ended Liverpool 3, Arsenal 2.

Extra Time

Alexander Isak’s goal for Sweden was out of the world.

Bayer Leverkusen’s new home shirt has the first golden Bundesliga patch.

Ranking Euro 2024 kits from best to worst.

Kiera Walsh’s savage feedback for Leah Williamson.

The worst dive that you’ll ever see.

Can you name a player with a better first touch than Dennis Bergkamp?

Game Face On

Question: Which nation is the only one to ever win two consecutive European Championship titles?

Scroll below for the answer.

On Today

FOOTBALL

Friendlies: Ecuador vs Bolivia (1:30 BST)

CRICKET

ICC T20 World Cup: USA vs India (15:00 BST, Sky Sports Cricket)

*EST -5. PST -8. CET +1. CST +8. JST +9.

Answer

Spain, in 2008 and 2012

Hottest Take of the Day

Today’s Hottest Take of the Day is: José Mourinho left his Treble winning team when Real Madrid was at its worst and Barca were dominating the world. Pep wouldn't dare do the same for Barca. Thanks to Oscar from Athens. Submit another Hot Take of the Day here.